The Thoughts and Writing of Robert Wherry

2017 Summer August 5 2017

Although it is 75 degrees here, it is almost cold, a cool breeze. Sitting on the patio, probably somewhat protected from the breeze, but it is still cool. Strange to think that 75 degrees can seem cool.

Pace was 13 seconds faster than my goal. I don’t know if i can keep up the pace, so to speak, when it gets cool again. Something I won’t worry about right now. Like growing older, it will be there when the time comes.

Both a brother and sister share a birthday today exactly one year apart. I came a day late 3 years later (tomorrow).

In a way the “shared” birthdays were nice, although we only had one birthday party, the fact it was for 3 of us and in the summer, usually met a visit to the swimming pool and a picnic with cake etc.

The fact that I liked school and was always ready to go back also made the occasion kind of an event marking time to the return to school, although we didn’t actually start school until the day after Labor Day back then I tended to get bored in the summer but there wasn’t near as much to do as there is now.

Listening to the “Industrial Revolution “ “Great Course”, it emphasizes the importance of electricity on the social, business and other impacts on all of our culture and society.

It also emphasizes my feeling that batteries or rather battery packs, will be an important part of our future, as we go to electrifying our houses with battery packs, possibly with solar or wind technology recharging the battery packs.

At the very least I can see battery packs providing “peaking power”, so electric utilizes can save billions on not having to build electrical generation plants to provide “peaking power”, which is the most costly.

i have to admit, I’m not quite a fan of “wind power” as I once was after I see the monster windmills they build. It seems they could use smaller, more intense wind generation.

Also, the way the wind power became a tax gimmick (or rip off) soured me on wind generated power.

However, solar power has the same problems (vast amount of land required etc.)

I think what really hurt (rather than helped) the wind and solar industry was the “must take it at peak rates” required for the electric industry.

It led to a lot of shoddy construction of electrical generation facilities (some actually powered by gas) and then basically forced on electric utilities to purchase it at peak rates rather than “cost” rates.

It basically became a game of one company building it, taking the tax write off, then selling to another company, who took another tax write-off and ripped off the electric utility who than had to raise rates to consumers, who, as usual had to pay for bad policy.

Felt to some degree, 5 earthquakes this week, more than I have felt in my whole life and 5 more than I ever want feel again!

The 4.5 earthquake was truly an experience I don’t want to repeat. I think the fact that, unlike tornados etc. earthquakes can happen anytime without any warning is one thing that makes earthquakes so bad.